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Porthtowan one of three Cornish beaches presented with Seaside Award

Cornwall Council has announced that three beaches it runs have been presented with a Seaside Award for the 2014 bathing season.

Polzeath, Porthtowan and Gyllyngvase beaches have all met the required standards of beach management to receive the nationally recognised mark of approval from Keep Britain Tidy.

The Seaside Awards are national awards, which the council appplied for after refusing to pay for the internationally recognised Blue Flag awards.

Cornwall Council cabinet member for Environment, Heritage and Planning Edwina Hannaford said: “I’m delighted that the Seaside Awards applications submitted by Cornwall Council for these three beaches have been successful.

"I’m sorry that the decision by Visit Cornwall not to apply for Blue Flag awards for these beaches was not discussed with local councils and businesses so that they would have the opportunity to take on the application process if they so wished.

"As they are tourism promotion awards, Visit Cornwall has in the past traditionally led on applying for Blue Flag awards for these three beaches and paid for the applications last year, however, it is not just the application fee that needs to be considered but also associated staff and administration costs to gather all of the information which means that the cost of applying is considerably more than just the application fee.

"After meeting with representatives of Falmouth Town Council and the local business community, we have agreed that Cornwall Council will now help put together an application for Blue Flag status for Gyllyngvase beach for 2015 but that the application will be community led. In the meantime, we delighted that the Seaside Awards applications submitted by Cornwall Council for all three beaches for 2014 have been successful.”

Edwina adds: “We will be working closely with local businesses and town and parish council’s to encourage them to take the lead in applying for awards for more beaches in Cornwall.”

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